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Crisis in education? 251 million children are out of school

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Progress education stagnation in the world.

In 2023, 251 million children were not in school. which represents a reduction of just 1% since 2015.according to a report presented this Thursday to UNESCO in Brazil.

The proportion of children out of school averaged 16% last year, in a highly unequal context between high-income countries, where the percentage falls to 3%, and low-income countries, where one in three children are out of school . school.

Data taken from Global Education Monitoring Report 2024 (GEM)released in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza, timed to coincide with the World Education Meeting organized by UNESCO and a series of G20 ministerial meetings.

In addition, approximately 650 million students drop out of school without completing a high school education, despite the fact that the graduation rate has increased from 53% to 59% over the past eight years.

An education crisis is hitting Africa, where the number of children out of school has increased by 12 million, especially in the sub-Saharan region.

“The percentage of students is growing very quickly and education systems are having difficulty absorbing such a large number of students,” Manos Antoninis, director of the GEM Report and one of the authors of the study, told EFE.

Added to this is that poverty levels in these countries are not falling and economic growth remains low, something that would be vital to reverse to get more children into school in Africa, but that is “not happening at the moment”, he said . noted.

Worst academic results

On the other hand, since 2012, the overall percentage of students achieving the minimum proficiency level has decreased by 12 percentage points in reading and 6 percentage points in math.

According to Antoninis, the worse results can be explained by several factors. One of these is technology as an element of “learning distraction.” In Brazil, for example, there is a debate about banning mobile phones in schools.

Another may come from home: the support they receive from parents “who are increasingly pressured to do so many things” which may take away from their time with their children.

The results are also affected by debt spirals in the poorest countries, where interest payments rise faster than education costs, as is the case in Ghana or Zambia.

However, the report does highlight some positive data, such as the fact that participation in education by children under three years of age has increased worldwide over the past decade.

Less government investment

However, the GEM report, which is independent but sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), says investment is lacking.

Globally, government spending on education fell by 0.4 points of gross domestic product (GDP) between 2015 and 2022, to an average of 4%.

In a similar vein, spending per child has remained virtually the same since 2010, while the share of aid allocated to education has also fallen with the emergence of other problems such as the war in Ukraine.

The report, in addition to allocating more resources, recommends “investing in strong school leaders”—an issue little addressed but fundamental.

“School principals are the second most important influence on learning outcomes after teachers,” says Antoninis, who advocates freeing them from administrative bureaucracy so they can focus on improving educational programs.

EFE

Source: Aristegui Noticias

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